A highly regarded expert's page

Happy Star Wars Day!

Looks like the right horn to me.

PF1 remains my favorite iteration of the game.

I like the videos, but a pdf would be easier to consult in play.

Like most people, she thinks she knows more than she does.

And she's really that stubborn. She's not the Q-anon Queen of Canada, but close.

I was a fan of the original. I recently went back to giggle at the humor, and found that Wes is making them again.
www.youtube.com/@creativejuices7th

She was a great comedic actor. RIP.

Even Deal

It's easier for a wizard to become a lich, since they can have the library of spells to do it, but sorcerers can, too.

Arcanists don't exist in 3.5. They can do it, too.

"Intentions are sparkly, like fresh snow on mangled corpse."

They really are, aren't they? Deep.

A super-cool sports car!

True. With leasing you get a car that also gets regular maintenance, and you can ditch it after a few years and get something else.

I bought my current car. It was exactly what I wanted in a car. Economical, quick and sporty, but practical, with a reputation for reliability. They've stopped making them, so I got it before they were finished. I'm one of those people who buys a car and drives it forever, but not everyone is so sure what they want or like.

Just rewatched her appearance on Community. s2, ep1. She was too funny!

I've tried to just register on those sites, and nothing. My email precedes me, and I can't even tell how it's there.

Real world TTRPG is a thing of the past. Usually sucked anyway.

Ooh! Dungeon-y! Looks like you could use a trap/stealth/spy kinda guy.
Let me introduce this fine young elf:
LINKY NO WORKY
He's an arcane trickster with a knack for the sneaky stuff.
I'll have to go over him and revise a few things, but he's just about good to go.

Any of the ideas presented would be a ton of fun. Like TheWaskally said, a lot of them could overlap over a long game.

Themes
I kinda like the notion that the players know each other in some way. They may be rivals or have some enmities of some sort, but they're united by the call to adventure and learn to work together.

An outdoor environment (jungle, desert, the frozen north, etc.) where survival is difficult without the right skills would add some great color and unique challenges. If there's a lost city or some new frontier to explore, there could be some fun dungeons, too.

Campaign Setting
Golarion.
It's made to host almost any sort of theme you can imagine, and most of us are familiar with it.

Oh, he won’t. He’s been DMing since 1E, has a whole continent worth of homebrew world we wander around in, and is entirely willing to let us take on challenges well beyond our CR. Last time we,Uh, distracted a wizard while our employer snuck into his tower and stole...something. Once the wizard figured out what was going on, he sicked a red-hot Iron Golem on our three 6th level adventurers.

Well, that would be interesting... lol

A long time ago, someone asked about gestalt classes. The Ranger/Wizard was a good choice.
6 skill points and the int bonus a wizard naturally gets, and a lot of class skills.
10 hd, full BAB and proficient in all weapons and most armor.
All good saves.
Full arcane casting to 9th level, and ranger spells, too.
A handy animal companion. Maybe a familiar, too.

What's not to like? I'd play an elf.

The monk/rogue is also very skillful.
All good saves.
8 hd, all the monk abilities, rogue abilities and sneak attack.

I'd play it as an unarmed scout/spy, using their crazy stealth and invisibility when that gets easy. I'd get wands for that, since it's a class skill. You don't see her coming. You don't see her leave, either. You may be missing some jewelry. Not a lawful act, but stealing from the enemy can be justifiable. Gotta support the cause!

A dwarf cleric/paladin is just as cool.
Crappy skill points, but they got it covered.
10 hd, full BAB, proficient in all weapons and armor, and you're a dwarf.
2 good saves.
Full cleric casting and paladin spells, too.
A handy mount.

You use magic to buff your party and confound your foes, or just buff a little and hack them up like a paladin with all the features.
You're free to use up your spells and you still fight effectively.

You guys walk in anywhere pre-buffed, you'll mop the floor.

Your GM may get frustrated.

The other players will have lots of skills and skill points with those classes, so you won't need a lot of skills yourself. Focus on things they won't have ranks in like healing.
Dwarves make great paladins and clerics, so you'll be a useful part of the crew. I'd aim for pre-buffing and going into battle that way.
As for the build, I'd go for strength and wisdom, of course, but you'll want decent charisma, too. It's not real important to the other classes.

Let's just go with "flavor." It has a tasty connotation.

The rules and numbers are the rice. It's okay in and of itself, but kinda bland until you top it with a spicy vegetable curry. Now you've got a dish that's worth savoring.

The fun of an interesting character adventuring in an exotic, magical world is what I remember, more than the stats and math.

Members of the design team have asked that we not use the word "fluff" on these forums when describing their product as some of the designers feel it is a term that is wholly dismissive of their work.

Interesting. It seems a catchall for personality, appearance, and all the non-number related stuff that makes a character more than just numbers on a sheet.

I really enjoy Jason's style. He runs a great game.
I hope this is on Youtube, cuz I hate twitch.

So many fascinating builds here. That kobold looks like a peck of fun.

548) Pootie Tang walks in, and seeing your group, whips out his belt and says, "Ain't come one, but many tine tanies!"

1238: See It Coming

Eh...I mean I like that part Philip.

Also I enjoy the fact the party KNOWS it's a trap but are smart enough to only sacrifice Haley. (Who probably would have gone anyway...)

It'll be fun to see Haley getting some screen time.

1237: That's Bait

I kinda felt a fraud being "the expert".

That's OK. I'm here, and I'm highly regarded!

I'm fine with core. My elf wouldn't be quite as awesome, but he's still plenty of fun.

I have a character I played in a PF1/Greyhawk-based game not too long ago; an elf evoker. I'd love to play him again.

RE: Kobolds: I'll allow it.

I hope you don't Chang your mind on that.

Dot.

This sounds like some scary fun, just in time for Halloween!

And with Inara running the game, how can I say no?

1216: Run to Ground

1215 Present Company Excepted

I finally was the first to post a new strip. My life now has meaning, and my existence now has validity.

OTOH, I loved the mages fighting at the end. I could totally dig a version of The Magnificent Seven with all the cowboys replaced by wizards...

I'll start on the screenplay...

No more until February? I can't wait that long! I need a fix, man!

Just binged season 3. Still funny stuff.

I've been kicking around a jungle-based adventure in my head. I just can't find a map system to use.

Some people just really hate giants! ;)

One thing I love about recruitment threads is seeing all the builds.

So true. I look at some of these characters, and I think "I would totally play that!" Great concepts, and at 7th, you can really see what they're about.

I’ve been in PbP for awhile. I’ve been in a lot that haven’t lasted. But through it all, it’s playing in the moment that is fun. If the GM wants to have a scene in discussion then that’s great. It means that even if not picked we get to play the characters for a bit. That’s a win in my book.

I like the idea, too. It would be fun to have all the characters face an encounter together. Maybe there's some kind of attack on the village, and the people need heroes to defend them from the onslaught.

With this many powerful characters all fighting at once, that would be a hoot. Picked or not, at least we get to play a bit and kick some butt.

Eldric Lightbringer wrote:

I’ve been in PbP for awhile. I’ve been in a lot that haven’t lasted. But through it all, it’s playing in the moment that is fun. If the GM wants to have a scene in discussion then that’s great. It means that even if not picked we get to play the characters for a bit. That’s a win in my book.

Agree!

False Life roll? Good idea. I have one of those too.

[dice=False Life]1d20 + 7

Figures.

You rolled a 20, rather than a 10.

Technically, you should reroll that... :)

This sounds like fun. I only have PF1, not 2.

I'll try to whip something up.

Yes! I usually post under whatever alias I'm playing in games on here atm, but I've been here pretty much every day.

I love PF1, and don't want to even try PF2.

Ellioti wrote:

Has anyone tried building an arcane Trickster that progresses divine spellcasting?

RAW clearly permits this.

Ellioti wrote:

Or even an AT that progresses mystic theurge?

Are you meaning that once you have a MT level, that taking AT levels would raise your "MT caster level" thus raising both your divine and arcane caster levels? That won't work. You don't really have a MT caster level for the AT to raise, you'd have say a Cleric and a Wizard caster level, only one of which can be raised by act AT level gain.

It's an arcane class, only. Arcane Trickster.

That's the only way it's effective. The only thing a divine class could do is heal your allies.

The AT isn't about that. It uses arcane magic to be invisible, and cast wizard spells that do things clerics can't.

No. You'll lose plenty of weight before it's all over.

And, we're off...

Warming Arctic permafrost releasing large amounts of potent greenhouse gas
Date:
April 15, 2019
Source:
Harvard University
Summary:
A recent study shows that nitrous oxide emissions from thawing Alaskan permafrost are about twelve times higher than previously assumed. About one fourth of the Northern Hemisphere is covered in permafrost, which is thawing at an increasing rate. As temperatures increase, the peat releases more and more greenhouse gases. And, even though researchers are monitoring carbon dioxide and methane, no one seems to be watching the most potent greenhouse gas: nitrous oxide.
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2019/04/190415090848.htm

The two primary drivers of the "faster than expected" phenomenon are scientific reticence (scientists preferring to err on the conservative side) and corporate/governmental interference in things like IPCC reports to tamp down the worst case scenarios.

There is also a great deal of money spent by the fossil extraction cartels on PR/propaganda to forestall meaningful change and to punish those raising alarms.

The Koch brothers and other oil giants have spent hundreds of millions on climate denial propaganda, funding shady pseudoscience groups who tell you things like "the Earth is actually getting colder," when it isn't, or "climate change is natural, and we're stupid to think we can affect it," when that, too is a lie.

We are already headed towards 2 degrees C. If we did everything possible to stop it right this very second, it would still be too late. Maybe if we'd started 30 years ago, but we didn't.

When all the arctic ice is almost gone, and the permafrost is belching long-sequestered CO2 and methane into an already damaged atmosphere, it will become difficult to breathe. Weather will be so screwed up that seasonal cycles will make the life of plants impossible. These are "feedback loops" that will only intensify.

We're already seeing these effects. Cherry blossoms in December in England. https://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/630063/weather-winter-temperatures-uk-war m-blossom-trees

People fleeing Central America, due to the weather. Farmers can't farm. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/oct/30/migrant-caravan-causes-climat e-change-central-america

It will only get worse and worse. We must learn to accept that we, along with 98% of all species on earth are going to go extinct very soon. There is no magic bullet. There is no Planet B.
https://imgur.com/a/ZsX7sEC

These are all very cool characters. I hope you find a game where you can play them.

Changed Lefty's skill format and added more to his background.